Sometimes you hear things about a film at various film festivals that generate a lot of buzz. Last year at the Toronto International Film Festival,  that movie was Sing Sing by director Greg Kwedar. What most people were saying was that Colman Domingo was phenomenal in it. That was interesting because was already getting awards buzz for Rustin which he starred in as famous civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. He just happens to be in a good place in his career right now.

Sing Sing as the title suggests takes place in the Sing Sing correctional facility in upstate New York. It focuses on a group of inmates who are in a special program where they enact plays every six months. It is a program that helps them get their minds off of the fact that they are in prison for a while. Devine G (Colman Domingo) is one of the longstanding members of this group. As it is in prison some prisoners move on in various ways such as they get out of prison, pass away, or aren’t interested in the program anymore. They get new members periodically. One of those new members this time around is Clarence Maclin. He’s a bit rough around the edges. This is a therapeutic program and Devine G and the director of the productions Brent Buell (Paul Raci) are willing to work with him to get him on board with the program.

This movie is a bare-bones production by Kwedar. He doesn’t use any special techniques to bring this true story to life. He lets the story and the performances from the cast, which are mostly the inmates playing themselves.  Yes, I said the inmates played themselves. That was shocking to me, but they were great. I didn’t feel like they were inmates at all. They seemed so comfortable in these roles playing themselves. This is what they do on a regular basis so it goes to show that they would be pretty good at it. That is being actors.

This is a film about people trying to make the most of a bad situation. It can’t be easy being in prison for any length of time, but having a program where you can creatively express yourself and enjoy yourself while you’re doing it is doubly a good thing. These productions are a bit amateur hour, but who cares? They work in context for what the program is all about. Getting the inmates to think about something else besides being in prison and missing their loved ones. As well as not dwelling on the things they did to get put there in the first place.

One of the standout performances in the film is from Clarence Maclin. His ark is quite fascinating. Like a lot of men and women who get put in prison, he does stop his bad behavior when he is in prison. He has some shady dealings, but the program is a savior for him. It helps him realize that there is more than just doing illegal activities in store for him. He embraces his new brotherhood as a family. He starts to trust them like a family. That’s how important they have become to him. His transition was quite amazing to see. It would be awesome if he were to get a Best Supporting Actor nom for his performance next year at the Academy Awards, but we’ll see.

I’ve been watching Colman Domingo for about fifteen or twenty years now. Ever since he was on The Walking Dead. He has impressed me more and more with each subsequent performance. Last year was a great year for him with Rustin and his role in The Color Purple. This year may be a follow-up to that. His role as Devine G is as impressive a performance as I’ve seen all year. He runs the gamut of emotions throughout this film. He’s mad, sad, and glad at times in this movie. One specific scene where he completely breaks down is Oscar’s moment. He brought it during that back-and-forth scene with Maclin. It seems to come easy for Domingo, as waking up in the morning does for most of us. He is amazing in this role and may follow- up his Academy Award nom earlier this year with another one next year. He’s that good in this role.

I haven’t been in prison for a long time like these guys in this film, but if I were I would want an opportunity to be in a program like the one in this movie. It helped these men get through the hard time they were doing every day. The filmmaking style Gwedar used was pretty sensible considering the story he was telling. Sing Sing is a prison, but this program made it more than that for these men. Even though they were away from their families they had become a surrogate family to one another in this story. This was a touching and tragic story at times. It was effective in showing the pluses and minuses of being in prison. A24 once again has another winner on their hands. Will it translate to awards next year? Who knows? Only time will tell. I for one hope so.

4 1/2 stars

Dan Skip Allen